These Passover Chocolate Chip Cookies are now a “holiday classic,” made with love every Seder to share with family and friends. It’s such a simple recipe, but somehow magical. The combination of matzo, brown sugar, butter, honey and vanilla creates a cookie that tastes every bit as good as a traditional flour cookie. Read through the comments if you don’t believe me! This recipe is a keeper.
This recipe his always a popular one on my site during the lead up to Passover, so I felt it deserved fresh new photos. I originally obtained the recipe from an organization called the Jewish Outreach Institute (no longer in existence) and their “Mother’s Circle Cookbook,” which shared recipes from women of various backgrounds raising Jewish children. It was submitted to the book by Mother’s Circle member Kathy Kersul-Wiener. Of the recipe, she writes:
After several years of suffering through store-bought Passover “treats,” I decided that I’d better learn to make them myself. I think the secret to this recipe is that the chocolate chips overwhelm the matzo.
These cookies are chocolatey, buttery and decadent, I would even go as far as saying they are the BEST Passover cookies. The original recipe calls for 3 cups of chocolate chips, which made the cookies too sweet for my taste. I have adapted the recipe by reducing the amount of chocolate chips to 2 cups, which is more than enough chocolate for our family’s taste.
For those of you wondering what matzo cake meal is, it’s simply matzo that has been ground very fine into a powdery texture. Most grocers with a kosher or jewish food section carry it during Passover. If you can’t find it, just grind up some matzo meal in your food processor until it becomes powdery like flour.
All of the other ingredients should be pretty easy to find. Enjoy, and Chag Sameach – Happy Passover!
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Food Photography and Styling by Kelly Jaggers
Passover Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)
- 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups matzo cake meal
- 1/4 cup matzo meal
- 2 cups chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cream the butter with brown sugar, honey, vanilla and salt. Add eggs and mix well.
- Mix in cake meal and matzo meal.
- Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Drop by tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheets 2 inches apart. Press down slightly to flatten.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes until slightly golden. These are great when slightly warmed, dipped in a cold, frothy glass of milk. Yum!
Nutrition
What is the difference between cake meal and just meal?
Matzo cake meal is more finely ground and more like a powder texture, matzo meal is a rougher breadcrumb texture.
I was out of vanilla and substituted almond extract, they were amazing!
Tori
I am an Architect who likes to bake and surprise my wife and friends with old classic Jewish foods.
Your chocolate chip cookie recipe is a great Passover treat.
I added an extra step to chill the cookie dough for 1 hour and then scoop portions onto parchment lined baking sheets.
My cookies are an exact likeness to your photo.
Well done……..
Ron Goodstein, Charlotte, NC
These came out delicious!! Definitely adding them into my regular passover cooking schedule going forward.
I think the measurements are somewhat high on the matzah/cake meal- mine really didn’t spread and are more like a cake than a crisp choclate chip cookie.
Hi Elisa, these cookies are meant to be soft and have a more cake-like texture, not crisp. They also don’t spread as much as a traditional cookie, which is why there is an instruction to flatten them. Sorry it wasn’t to your preference!
Wow!! this is the first time I’ve tried a recipe from your blog. Love these cookies!
Added half a teaspoon of KLP baking soda for a flatter, chewier cooky. Geshmaaaaaack! Thank you for this recipe!
Hi,
I love this recipe but my cookies spread completely. I’m thinking it is because I pressed down a bit too much. Is it best to place them as a ball and let them spread?
Did you use gluten free matzo? This has happened to a couple of readers who substituted gluten free products.
Hi Tori,
I found your site 2 years ago when I was searching for a hamantashen recipe. I made both the dairy and the parve versions, but I prefer the butter. I have to keep the butter version chilled when I’m working with it. Your recipe was the hit of our Jewish Cultural Festival.
Today I am going to try making your Chocolate Chip Passover Cookies. I am sure they will be as delicious as the hamantashen were. And, thank you for demonstrating as easy way to fold the hamantashen. When I do it your way, the baked product comes out picture perfect – no corners opening up and filling spilling out.
Thank you very much.
Lois
You’re welcome Lois!
Amazing cookies, made them for our Passover guests who are visiting and they turned out delicious. Thank you!
Tori, you may just have brought a whole lot of joy to a very large family. My minister and his wife just had Child Number Eight–now they have four boys and four girls (they absolutely LOVE children, and wanted to have a large family. They’ve been totally successful!)–and all but the newborn boy loves chocolate chip cookies. This recipe will be perfect for all of us for the DUB, but it’ll work well beyond that, too. Three of their children are gluten intolerant, so their mother is always on the lookout for gluten-free recipes for baking; I think this one will work, knowing that she has numerous boxes of matzo crackers that she can crush for the matzo meal 🙂
Hi Joyce! Just a word of caution – regular matzo is NOT gluten free. There ARE gluten free matzo meal and matzo cake meal brands available out there, but they won’t work exactly the same in this recipe– so I would recommend reading through the comments before using a gluten free substitute. Good luck!
How many cookies would be one serving? Thank you.
One cookie per serving– but they are large cookies. If you make them smaller you’ll have more per serving.
Hi, any idea how this could be made without the eggs, for the vegan contingent? Thsnks!
Here is a post about vegan egg replacement– I think the only one that might be Passover friendly is chia seeds: https://toriavey.com/how-to/how-to-make-a-vegan-egg-substitute/
Can you substitute either the matzo cake meal or matzo meal with Almond Flour to make it more carb friendly?
I haven’t tried that myself, but check the comments– another reader may have tried it already. 🙂
Last week I tested this recipe, making a half-batch with 2 of my granddaughters. We all thought they were great. I put a few in the freezer and checked over the next three days, and they were still delicious each day. (The sacrifices I make!) Today I made 1-1/2 times the recipe, and those yummy cookies are in the freezer waiting for next weekend. Thank you for an incredible recipe!!
What do you think of making these cookies using blanched almond flour?
I cannot advise you on this, I have never tried it. Sorry!
Hey Tori, those Passover chic chip cookies look amazing ! I make all my baked goods pareve , so I use oil (Marg is bad for you)
Do u think these would work with oil? And Would I have to adjust the quantity ?
I would appreciate a quick reply as I have to start baking next week ?
Hi Shelley! The trouble with oil here is that it will lose the buttery flavor, which is desirable. I am thinking buttery flavored coconut oil might work as a sub (you can find it in health food stores), but I haven’t tested it myself. I generally use Earth Balance buttery sticks in this situation (which are non-hydrogenated and not terribly unhealthy once in a while), but I don’t think it’s Passover approved. So I guess it depends on how strict you are with kosher laws, and how much you want to experiment. 🙂
Hi, Tori!! Love your recipes. What’s the texture of these cookies? Are they soft? Crispy? Chewy? Cakey?
Somewhere between all four of those, honestly! They’re not crisp, but I wouldn’t describe them as soft either. They’re just good! 🙂
I just made these and they’re delicious! My kids can’t get enough them. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe!
This looks delicious,
I wonder if I can use tapioca starch ( or any other idea ) instead of the matzo cake meal ,
My kids are gluten free and I don’t have gluten free matzo meal ,
Thank you
Hi Jacob– it would be difficult to recommend a gluten free substitute here without first testing the recipe. Gluten free baking is tricky business, I wouldn’t want to steer you in the wrong direction without first trying it myself.